Boston Marathon for All!

The Breathlessly Shared and Debated Running News Item du Jour, without question, has got to be the fact that Boston Marathon's organizers have tightened the race's qualifying standards and registration process.

You may have heard this already, seeing as how virtually every running-related web site and blog and Twitter feed and Facebook page and message board has been pulsing with this news since it surfaced late yesterday morning.

In a nutshell: After last year's registration mess, when the 2011 race filled up in about eight hours, race officials decided to make it a bit harder to get into Boston. Qualifying times will be lowered by five minutes – e.g., today's 3:10 BQ for 18-34-year-old men will dip to 3:05, and so on, across the board – and the "fastest" qualifiers will get first crack at entries.

Unsurprisingly, lots of people have lots of opinions on this change. (Our own Amby Burfoot, who won Boston in 1968, for one, isn't thrilled.) And more than a few have floated their own "better" ideas for addressing Boston's growing pains. Among them is this, from a Boston.com blogger: Instead of one Boston Marathon, have two...

Indeed, right now the marathon is basically two races run on the same day: elite runners in one race, and a slower group of charity runners in another. So why not make the separation official, and run them on different days?

This new Boston Marathon, the blogger writes, could have a different course. And be run in the fall.

Want to know what I call that idea? A good start.

I mean, why stop there? Why not roll out...

Boston Marathon: The FranchiseFor too long, Boston's organizers have suffered from a kind of geographical myopia. Who says the Boston Marathon has to be in Boston? I mean, if you're going to propose a fall Boston Marathon that doesn't follow the Boston Marathon course anyway, why not go that extra step and take this show on the road? A series of Boston-branded races across the country could be very interesting. And lucrative. Don't the good people of New York City deserve their own Boston Marathon? How about a Chicago Boston Marathon? Who knows – eventually this idea could "cross the pond" and we could see a Berlin Boston Marathon or London Boston Marathon. Expand your horizons, people.

Boston Marathon: The Online ExperienceHey, you can get a college degree online. You can even become ordained as a priest via the web. Why not let shut-ins, recluses, and the morbidly obese enjoy the prestige of having run Boston? Upon completion of their virtual "marathon" – and submission of their "entry fee" – online marathoners could view a finisher's certificate that they can print or post to Facebook.

Boston Marathon: The Implanted Memory Think Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall. Why go to the Boston Marathon when the Boston Marathon could come to you? This would be a real boon for today's time-crunched runners, who just want to cross Boston off their "bucket list" and be done with it.

Boston Marathon: 3D The next best thing to being there – from the porta-potty lines in Hopkinton to the screaming girls of Wellesley to the finish line on Boylston Street – is "being there" through the magic of 3D film. Let folks pile into an IMAX theater and be transported, experiencing Boston from the comfort of plush seats. The price of admission: $130. Or proof that you've raised $3,000 for charity. As moviegoers file out of the theater afterward, pimply teenage ushers could drape medals around their necks.

In short, B.A.A., you've selfishly limited the Boston Marathon to a handful of elitist "qualifiers" for long enough. Throw it open to everyone!

And pass the popcorn!

Mark RemyMark Remy has been with Runner’s World since January 2007—for the first 5 ½ years as executive editor of RunnersWorld.com, and currently as a writer at large.

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